In some vehicles, which contain automatic transmissions, a winter program can be pre-selected with a switch or a push button. Hereby, the winter program for multi-ratio automatic transmissions according to the state of the art differs from the standard driving program especially in that the starting takes place in the second or third gear in such a way that, because of the longer starting gear ratio with the same gas pedal position and engine speed, a reduction of the drive torque on the wheel compared to the standard program will be achieved. At higher gas pedal values, according to the state of the art the full driving performance will be made available through downshifting.
In a continuously variable transmission (CVT transmission) without a clutch on the output side no change can be made to the gear ratio of the variable speed gear when the vehicle is standing still since the variable speed gear disk sets are not turning. Therefore, a longer starting gear ratio also cannot be achieved within the scope of a winter program for reducing the drive torque on the wheel.
The present invention is based on the task of establishing a method for operating a motor vehicle with a continuously variable transmission on roads with a low friction coefficient (winter driving program), which enables the reduction of the drive torque on the wheel. Additionally, the method according to the invention should also be suitable for vehicles with a manual transmission, a multi-ratio automatic transmission or automatic shift manual transmission.